getting ready to cook one tomorrow. i have a pan and i may use one of hte foster's beer cans because of its width. i also have quite a few whisky chips that have been soaking in whiskey. i'm going to put a bit of whiskey in the bottom pan as well although that may boil out pretty fast. i'm going to have a can in the turkey and .5-1" in the bottom of the pan of a beer/whiskey mix with a few spices. Is this overkill or will I be able to get sort of a self basting effect. what do you think? i have a real make-shift rig but cooked a bcc last night and worked very well and much faster. i'm letting the thermo sit inside of the roaster (a fire pit and a screened lid covered in tin foil) near the top to measure temperature in the pit. should i put the thermo at top or bottom of the lid? I'm shooting for about 300 deg. +/- 25 deg. for overall temp and the nine pounds for about 3.5 hours. does this sound feasible?

I used a 1 litre can of Asahi Super Dry as I am living in Japan.
I followed the rub recipe and placed a 12lb. bird over the opened can, inside a Reynolds Oven Bag, and rested it all in a roasting pan.
This went into a smoking grill and remained over the coals for about 3 hours.
Smoke was added and could be tasted in the meat, but not overpowering due to the bag.
However, the bag did help infuse the flavour of the beer and keep the whole bird moist from wing to tail.
I will definately use the same technique next time as the results were outstanding and received nothing but compliments.

I found this recipe 4 years ago, and have used it religiously since no matter the time of year . I have had rave reviews on it from every one who has ever tried it. I don't have a grill so I do the actual cooking a little different. I place the turkey in a large caserol (sp) pan about two feet long and about a foot and a half wide...they sell disposalable ones at most grocery stores. I coat the bird in unmelted butter before I put the spice rub on to help it stick better. I also put about 6 mounded tablespoons of butter in the pan around the turkey for drippings( which is absolutely amazing for dipping the meat into when cooked). Place the beer can about half way back inside the bird, may want to use a smaller beer can as the can will be standing up inside the bird instead of the bird standing on the can. I then wrap the whole thing in aluminum foil and cook the turkey per the package the turkey came in pertaining to time and temp. Do the basting about every 30 mins as well as getting some of the butter dripping juice to baste as well. Rewrap turkey after every basting until the last half hour to hour to brown the bird. This recipe makes a very juicy, slightly spicy bird that even people who don't like spicy things love. I NEVER have left overs on Thanksgiving and usually have to make two to three turkeys for the rest of my extended family. Highly recommend atleast trying this recipe, you wont regret it.

I cooked yesterdays Turkey as per recipe on here and it was absolutely stunning….. 100% perfect result… I used Guiness rather than beer and what this did for the gravy just is not possible to describe how amazing it tasted…. Thank you very much for this webpage… It made a Scottish Hebridean Island Xmas dinner one never to forget…. can't imagine not cooking Turkey like this ever again! Slainte